User interfaces on computing devices often use animation to present a better experience. Menu navigation (e.g., smooth rolling of application icons on a touch display) may be animated to present a natural user experience; animated onscreen objects may be used to provide users with feedback (e.g., an animation of a selected object to indicate that it has been selected); and wait animations may be used to let users know that the system is currently processing something. Animations require computing power, and many of them require resource-intensive animation software programs to decompress and decode files containing animations. Some computing devices and/or software applications may not be able to easily extend the processing resources needed to render animations, and there remains an ever-present need for more “lightweight” (e.g., less resource intensive) approaches to offering and presenting animations.